Here are some basic tips for photographing a Church Service

Tip 1. DO NOT USE FLASH. There is nothing more annoying then trying to be spiritual and meditative, and having the flash go off everytime someone takes a shot. A better option is too invest in a fast lens such as a 70-200 F 2.8 or a 24-70 F 2.8 or even a prime such as the 50 mm F 1.8. If you have a crop sensor camera, an Sigma 50-150 F 2.8 or a 17-50 F 2.8 or the newer 18-35 F 1.8 or the Sigma 50-100 F 1.8. Shots such as these were taken with the 50-150  untitled-3563 untitled-3573

Tip 2. Raise your ISO. Sometimes you need to set your ISO to higher settings so you can get a faster shutter speed. Ideally it should be above 1/125 of a second. However there is a rule of photography that helps with this, it is the reciprocal rule which means you aperture should be equal or more then the maximum aperture of your lens. For example if your lens is a 150 mm your aperture should be 150 or more to get a sharp shot. However the higher ISO will induce noise into your photos so be careful. An High ISO was used to take this shot  untitled-3587

Tip 3. Put your camera on Silent Mode. Most current digital cameras today have a silent mode in their drive features. It does dampen the sound of the shutter but it does sometimes make the camera shoot slower. Just something to keep in mind